Sunday, December 01, 2013

"Battleground" Offers A Comical Look At The Roller Coaster Of Election Campaigns

By Eric Kohanik

Election campaigns can be funny things.
Just ask J.D. Walsh.

Although Walsh has a solid list of
acting credits, including guest stints on TV shows ranging from Two
and a Half Men to The Crazy Ones, it was his real-life stint
as a campaign worker during John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid that
led him to a role as creator/executive producer.

Walsh's brainchild is Battleground,
a clever, documentary-style comedy series that made its Canadian
debut Nov. 18.

“It was soul-crushing,” Walsh says
of his ride on the campaign trail. “There was a guy there who kind
of took me under his wing and kind of showed me the ropes of, like,
'This is how the campaign works.' And he knew all this kind of, like,
secret stuff. This guy was kind of my window into the world, and what
that life is like.”

Battleground spins its fictional
yarn around a group of misfits working on an election campaign in
Wisconsin. Jay Hayden stars as Chris “Tak” Davis, the campaign
manager toiling to get Deirdre Samuels (Meighan Gerachis) elected to
the U.S. Senate. The show's ensemble cast includes Jack De Sena as
speechwriter Cole Graner, Teri Reeves as media strategist Kara “K.J.”
Jamison, Alison Haislip as tech whiz Ali Laurents and Ben Samuel as
campaign newbie Ben Werner.

The show's documentary style is
reminiscent of such other TV comedies as The Office or Modern
Family. But there's a twist to Battleground. It's a series
originally made strictly for the Internet.

Battleground was actually the
first foray into scripted programming by Hulu, a video-streaming site
based in the U.S. The series premiered there last year and was
recently picked up by Super Channel for TV viewers across Canada.

A tight, web-oriented budget meant
things had to be done quickly. “We wrote all 13 episodes and then
shot them as a movie,” reveals Walsh, who puts in cameo appearances
as the filmmaker within the show. “Essentially, we shot three
movies in a period of eight weeks.”

The tight budget and shooting schedule
don't detract from Battleground. It has production values
similar to big network TV shows, but its roots as a web series
allowed for a freer creative environment.

“It felt very comfortable
immediately,” Hayden recalls. “We were able to stretch as actors
and really tell the story that J.D. wanted us to tell.”

Haislip echoes the sentiment. “There
was an ease and a flow on set that allowed for a lot of creativity,”
the actress says. “J.D. actually came up with this brilliant thing.
After every single shot set-up, when he got what he wanted, he gave
us an 'unusable' take, and that was, 'Do whatever the hell you want.
Just go for it.'

“We were able to get these moments of
gold because we weren't thinking about the script anymore. We weren't
thinking about what we were told to do. We were thinking about how
can we make this even more ridiculous and more hilarious. It's
amazing how many of those unusable takes actually made it into the
show.”

Other distinct features include the
show's on-camera interviews with characters, which appear to take
place well after the campaign has ended.

“The idea behind it is we wanted to
give it time and distance and space,” Walsh explains. “Because
that would allow the people who are being interviewed to,
occasionally, not remember exactly how it worked, or possibly still
be 'spinning it.' And then we would actually see what happens.”

Not everything is played for laughs.
Walsh's campaign experience inspired him to tell stories from varied
perspectives.

“All of those people just go from
campaign to campaign,” he says. “You can't live a life that way.
You can't live a real life. So, that's the struggle that you see in
this show, with Tak and his wife at home. She wants a real life.

“What we're trying to do on this show
is as real as possible … to find out what the day-to-day struggle
is like, what the roller coaster is like.”

December Brings Its Usual Plethora Of Holiday Specials. Here Are Some Gotta-See Attractions To Mark On The Calendar

By Eric Kohanik

Deck the halls! The yuletide season is
approaching and, of course, that means December's TV schedules are
filled with the usual torrent of holiday programming.

We've sifted through most of the merry
mix to come up with some shining lights and gotta-see attractions to
help make your season bright ...

A Pitchin' In Christmas

Chef Lynn Crawford is inviting her extended family of Pitchin' In friends over for Christmas, and they're bringing some of her favourite ingredients, including heritage turkey, roast rack of Canadian lamb, and figs for her famous figgy pudding (Food Network Canada, Dec. 2)

A Charlie Brown Christmas

The holiday season just wouldn't feel
right without certain classics. Leading the pack: Charlie Brown's
timeless quest to find the true meaning of Christmas and the help of
his pal, Linus. (ABC, dec. 2 and YTV, Dec. 11)

CMA Country Christmas

Trace Adkins, Sheryl Crow, Kellie
Pickler and a gaggle of other country stars gather in Nashville to
share traditions, memories and songs in a two-hour concert showcase.
(ABC, Dec. 2 and City, Dec. 7)

Gordon Ramsay's Christmas Cookalong Special

When you think Gordon Ramsay, you might not think Christmas cheer, but the Hell's Kitchen chef is in the proper spirit for this special where he invites families to cook together to create a three-course festive feast. (Food Network Canada, Dec. 5)

The Santa Claus Parade

If you missed the same-day telecast on
Nov. 17, here's a couple of chances to catch Santa and the other
attractions making their way down the streets of Toronto. (CTV, Dec.
7 and CTV Two, Dec. 8)

A Very Merry Mix-Up

Alicia Witt tops the cast of this
fluffy new movie. She plays a
young bride-to-be whose Christmas trip to meet her future in-laws
becomes a comedy of errors. (CTV, Dec. 7)

The Great Christmas Light Fight

OK, why not have Christmas cheer duke
things out with reality TV? This three-episode competition series has
20 families pimping out their homes to win big money. Fa-la-la-la-la.
(ABC, Dec. 9, 16, 23)

Dragons' Den Holiday Episode

How much more of a Scrooge could
curmudgeonly money-bagman Kevin O'Leary possibly be? Wait and see.
(CBC, Dec. 11)

Kelly Clarkson Christmas Special

Pop star Kelly Clarkson will loosely base her yet-to-be-titled holiday special around Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and its underlying message of learning the true meaning of Christmas. (NBC, Dec. 11)

Miracle on 34th Street

Take your pick of the 1994 remake
starring Richard Attenborough (Dec. 12) or the original 1947 version
featuring Edmund Gwenn (Dec. 25). Either way, Kris Kringle wins
everyone over in the end. (CBC)

Get out the Roast Beast. The original
animated rendition of the Dr. Seuss tale is a treat for young and
old. (CBC, Dec. 16)

I Love Lucy Christmas Special

Everything old is new again. Really.
CBS has taken a newly colourized version of the seldom-seen 1956 Christmas episode of I Love Lucy and merged it with a
colourized rendition of the “Lucy's Italian Movie” episode. The
colours are a nice visual bonus; the laughs are still as classic as
ever. (CBS, Dec. 20)

Rita MacNeil's Christmas

The late Rita MacNeil's charm lives on
in this feel-good special from 2000. John McDermott, Patti LaBelle,
Natalie MacMaster and the Barra MacNeils round out the musical
celebration. (CTV Two, Dec. 22)

National Lampoon's Christmas
Vacation

Sometimes you just need some silly
laughs. And there are plenty in the yuletide missteps of Clark
Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his family. (CBC, Dec. 22)

Scrooge

The famed 1951 film adaptation of A
Christmas Carol showcases Alastair Sim in what is still the
definitive portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge. (CBC; Dec. 24)

Air Farce New Year's Eve Special

A longtime New Year's Eve tradition,
this year-in-review romp by the Air Farce crew should have plenty of
timely targets. (CBC, Dec. 31)

Gerry Dee New Year's Eve Special

Fans of CBC's Mr. D can catch
comedian Gerry Dee yukking things up in preparation for the New Year.
(CBC, Dec. 31)

New Year's Eve At Niagara Falls

Entertainment Tonight Canada hosts
Cheryl Hickey and Rick Campanelli round up some of the music
industry's hottest acts to ring in 2014 in this fifth annual
coast-to-coast countdown from Niagara Falls, Ont. (Global, Dec. 31)